Tobacco smoking and curing apparatus



May 22, 1923. 3,4553% J. H. L. JQHNSON TOBACCO SMOKING AND CURING APPARATUS Filed Apri1-7, 1922 etented JOHN H. L. JOHNSON, OF SPRINGFIELD, TENNESSEE.

TOBAGO?) SMOKING AND CURING APPARATUS.

, Application filed April 7, 1922. Serial No. 550,405.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. L. JOHNSON,

, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Robertson and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tobacco- Smoking and Curing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for curing and smoking tobacco and consists in certain novel features of construction whereby a smoke may be generated and permitted to pass to and about tobacco leaves suspended in the upper-portion of a barn or other structure. It has been found that certain crops of green tobacco are most advantageouslv cured and placed in condition for the market by permitting smoke to rise to and circulate about the suspended leaves, and it is the objeit of the present invention to produce an apparatus which will generate a smoke and efiiciently guard against escape of flame to the tobacco or any parts of the structure in which th tobacco may be suspended. The invention seeks to provide an apparatus of such construction that the feeding of fuel will be facilitated and the quantity' or density of the smoke readily controlled. Other objects of the invention will appear incidentally in the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates one embodiment of my invention,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my imroved apparatus showing the cover of the urnace slightly raised; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same; Fig. 3 is a plan view.

In carrying out my invention, I employ a container 1 which is preferably in the form of a sheet metal cylinder and is utilized as a .furnace or stove. The top of this body orcontainer is open. but upon its inner side adjacent the top are lugs 2, upon which is placed a perforated plate or plates 3 whereby the exit of smoke is permitted but the passage of flame will be prevented. I also provide openings 4 through the wall of the'container adjacent the upper end thereof, and these openings are covered with wire netting or other foraminous material, as shown at'5, thereby also furnishing means which will permit the escape of smoke but prevent the escape of flame. Upon the outer side of the container, adjacentan end of each opening 4, is hingedly mounted a shutter or cover 6 which is of arcuate formation whereby it may fit close against the container and extend over the adjacent opening. Each shutter is equipped with a latch 7 at its free end adapted to engage a keeper 8 adjacent the opening whereby the shutter may be held in closed position and entirely cover the opening. Below the openings 4 is a fuel door 9 which may be of any convenient form and permits the. fuel, in the form of blocks of wood, to be readily placed in the container while near the bottom of the container is a damper 10 of any preferred design whereby the draft through the container may be regulated. I also provide handles 11 upon the sides of the container so that it may be readily carried from point to point. 7

A cover 12 is provided which is of greater diameter than the body or container 1 so that when in position over the container it will extend outwardly beyond the vertical walls of the container. The cover has a depending annular rim 13 which is adapted to fit around the upper end of the container, leaving a space for the escape of the smoke. Rising centrally from the cover 12 is a supporting rod 14 which passes loosely through an eye 15 provided at the end of a crane 16 and is threaded along its upper portion, as shown at 171 A nut 18, which may be laterally extended to form a crank, as shown, is fitted upon the threaded portion of the supporting rod 14 above the eye 15 so that Totation of the nut about the rod will cause the rod to move upwardly or downwardly through the eye 15 and thereby raise or lower the cover 12, it being understood that the nut restsdirectly upon the eye, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The crane 16 consists of a standard mounted on the side of the body or container 1 and having its upper end bent late-rally so as to extend over the cover. The vertical portion or post of the crane is rotatably fitted in brackets 19 and 20 secured upon the side of the container or body in vertical al-inement so that the crane will be supported. in its operative position and 'may be readily turned when it is desired to swing thecover to one side. The lower bracket 20 has an imperforate base portion upon which the lower end of the crane r sts, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, and also has an upper perforated 1 l0 portion through which the crane is rotatably the damper 10 adjusted to obtain the desired draft. The shutters 6 may be partly or entirely opened so as to permit escape of the smoke through the openings 4;, while some smoke will escape throu h the space between the upper edge of the body and the inner side of the cover, it being readily noted that the manner of supporting the cover permits it to be adjusted so' that it may rest directly on the body or may be spaced therefrom in any desired degree. If the cover be lowered close to the body, the draft will be choked and the fire will burn slowly and the smoke will be of a dense moist quality, while if the cover be raised, the fire will burn more freely and the smoke will be thinner,-

drier, and hotter. When the device is not in use or is to be cleaned, the cover is raised so that its rim will clear the body or container and the crane is then swung about its vertical portion as an axis so that the cover will be carried to one side of the body and unobstructe'd access may then be had to the body. The cover may be shifted very easily by the use of the apparatus disclosed, and, therefore, may be made as ea ers large as desired without subjecting the user to excessive strain in shifting the parts. By.

properly regulating the draft throu hthe device, the smoke ma issue in an esired density. If the draftbe strong, t e smoke will be rather thin and light, but if the draft be minimized, the smoke will be heavy and moist and, obviously, any condition between the extremes may be-readily obtained so that smoke may be produced of that quality which observation shows is best suited to the particular tobacco being treated, the

smoking having been found to improve the aroma ofthe tobacco.

My device is very simple and inexpensive and may easily be manipulated. In actual practice, it has been found highly eficient.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a tobacco-curing apparatus, the 'combination of an open-topped furnace, a cover for the furnace having a depending rim adapted to fit around the top of the furnace in spaced relation thereto, and means for efiecting vertical and lateral movement of the cover whereby to vary the spaced relation of the cover to the container and regulate the discharge of smoke.

2. A tobacco-curing apparatus comprising i an open-topped fuel container, screened outlets in the side of said container near the upper end thereof, a perforated plate removably supported in the upper end of the container above said outlets, a coveradapted I to extend over the container, and means'for shifting the cover into or out'of operative relation to the container.

in testimony whereof I afix my si' ature.

- JOHN H. L. SUN. 

